For the past several months, police have looked at vendors to lease video cameras for 154 patrol cars and 12 motorcycles.

Patrol car packages would include a forward-facing camera, a camera facing the back seat, microphones, a small LCD monitor and a router/recorder kept in the trunk. Cameras begin recording once an officer activates a patrol car's lights and sirens or if the car is in involved in a crash.

THE GREENLIGHT

City staff have put a price tag on a five-year lease agreement at somewhere between $1.5 and $1.9 million. Much of those funds will come from recently paid off leases from the police department including its phone and air conditioning systems, said Assistant City Manager Troy Riggs.

It's something staff have been working toward the past eight months.

Last week, City Manager Ron Olson signed off on the project and city officials hope to put it before City Council in the next 30 days, Riggs said.

Two months after he started as police chief in 2009, Riggs rode along with officers to get a feel for the department. He was caught off guard when he got into a patrol car and didn't see a camera.

"I was under the impression that every major police department had video cameras in their cars," he said.

The last department he worked at went through three generations of video cameras, he said.

A SIMPLE SYSTEM

The Corpus Christi Police Department bought about a dozen VHS cameras and recorders for its patrol cars in the mid-90s. It was a cumbersome system, said Comdr. Todd Green.

A supervisor had to personally remove and label each tape and replace it with a new one.

Each video-equipped patrol car could be used for two to three shifts a day, with dozens of traffic stops per shift, he said.

About 10 years later, the department was given about 40 video camera systems by the Department of Public Safety, many of which are on their last legs, Green said.

Such technology typically lasts between five and seven years, he said.

Meanwhile, the Nueces County Sheriff's Office has 14 video-equipped vehicles that Sheriff Jim Kaelin called an asset.

"They have been very beneficial and effective in our prosecution of DWIs, interdiction and during service calls," he said.

The new system police are eyeing alleviates the need for physical copies of arrests.

The system automatically uploads video from patrol cars using a wireless connection when an officer returns from a shift. The data is stored on computer servers for 90 days, as required by law, and each file can be individually located and burned to DVD by investigators for use in a trial.

"It's just much simpler for the agency," Green said.

TRANSPARENCY

One of the biggest benefits to the police department would be the ability to cut down on lawsuits against police, Simpson said.

With audio and video evidence, it's hard to ignore whether an officer or a defendant was in the right or wrong, he said.

"It's important to do if we're going to be transparent and practice open government," he said.

As an assistant chief in Dallas, Simpson released dash cam video of an officer fatally running over a 10-year-old boy on a bicycle.

It was a hot-button issue with media and the public clamoring for video of the incident.

Simpson quickly released the video, something that was not unanimously popular among other officers, he said.

"It was out front, and no one could accuse the department of a cover-up," Simpson said.

The video showed the boy had ridden in front of the patrol car in the middle of the road, and the officer received about two-weeks suspension, though he still can't bring himself to ride patrol again.

Police officials said video cameras also will help supervisors know how officers in the field conduct themselves.

"You can't be in the car and ride with every officer," Green said.

THE CSI EFFECT

Nueces County District Attorney Mark Skurka said he hopes the department gets the cameras, so prosecutors will have more to work with in court.

Though, he said, police should be prepared to capture the good, the bad and the ugly.

"Video evidence is sometimes a two-edged sword — it can either help the prosecution or hurt it," he said.

Modern jurors expect to see video from any police incident, Skurka said. He calls it the "CSI" effect, after the popular police television series. Such shows have changed public perceptions about law enforcement.

Still, video evidence is a good thing, he said.

"It's a worthy tool of prosecution; it will show exactly what happens out there," Skurka said.

The system police are looking at also can be synced to include up to nine camera systems, meaning if nine patrol cars arrived at a scene, such as a shooting, each car will have its own angle of the incident.

FUTURE VIEWS

The system also can be integrated with officer-worn body cameras, something the department explored last fall, Riggs said.

"In our lifetime we will see police in an emergency operations center watching live incidents on television," he said. "Probably within the next 10 or 20 years," he said.

Authorities are embracing that direction.

The past year marked the first time Corpus Christi police and fire officials monitored spring break traffic and beachgoers from the city's Emergency Operations Center on the top floor of the fire administration building.

Authorities also watched the Buc Days parade from the center last week.

Police said placing cameras inside their vehicles will take the department to a higher level of professionalism and provide added safety to officers and residents alike.

"It will support officers who are doing the right thing," Simpson said. "And if they're doing something wrong, we'll know."